New Delhi, Jul 2 (IANS): J&K's High-Level Land Allotment Committee on Thursday cleared land allotment to 15 projects worth Rs 1,548 crore and employment potential for 5,000 persons in the Jammu division.
Projects worth Rs 20,000 crore employing 84,000 persons in J&K are in the process of being approved, an official statement said.
The first meeting of the committee to approve allotment of land for establishing projects having proposed investment from Rs 50 crore to Rs 200 crore under the provisions of J&K Industrial Land Allotment Policy was held Thursday in Srinagar under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce, Ranjan P. Thakur.
Thakur termed it a historical moment in the industrial development of Jammu and Kashmir. He highlighted that the process of land allotment has been streamlined and transparent. The applications are received round the clock on the Single Window Portal making it an ongoing process.
Director, Industries and Commerce, Jammu and the committee's Member Secretary Anoo Malhotra presented the cases before the committee and expressed optimism that the decisions in the meeting usher in a new era of growth, industrialisation and employment generation in J&K besides promoting a culture of entrepreneurship.
The committee took up 23 cases for the allotment of land in various industrial estates of the Jammu division with a projected investment of Rs 2,447 crore. After deliberations on a case-to-case basis, the committee approved 15 cases of land allotment with a projected investment of Rs 1,548 crore and having employment potential of 5,000.
The process of land allotment, for the first time, adopted a strategy of ranking on the basis of different parameters of the project report and presentations. The committee decided to keep 8 projects pending on the basis of huge requirement of power for operation with less employment potential and also due to restriction on setting up of red category units in Industrial Area Ghatti, Kathua.
It was informed that proposals with a projected investment of Rs 10,000 crore and employment potential of 34,000 persons in Jammu and about Rs 10,000 crore and employment potential of 50,000 persons in Kashmir are under the process of being approved.
J&K PCC Member Secretary B.M. Sharma, Additional Secretary, PDD, Tahir Firdous, Joint Director, I&C Department, Ved Prakash, FOIJ Chairman Rattan Dogra and other officers of Industries & Commerce Department, SIDCO and SICOP attended the meeting.